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World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2026; 32(37): 120885
Published online Oct 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.120885
Published online Oct 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.120885
Portulaca oleracea L.-derived exosome-like nanoparticles ameliorate colitis by modulating gut microbiota and metabolites to reduce endoplasmic reticulum stress
Xiao-Yan Liu, Zi-Xuan Liu, Wei-Wei Tan, Wei-Bing Zhang, Dan Qiao, Shuo-Han Chen, Yan-Cheng Dai, Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine-Integrated Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China
Ya-Li Zhang, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Longhua Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Lie Zheng, Department of Gastroenterology, Shaanxi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xi’an 710003, Shaanxi Province, China
Wen-Song Ge, Department of Gastroenterology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
Co-first authors: Xiao-Yan Liu and Zi-Xuan Liu.
Co-corresponding authors: Wen-Song Ge and Yan-Cheng Dai.
Author contributions: Liu XY and Liu ZX performed most of the experiments and contributed equally to this study as co-first authors. Dai YC designed the study, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. Ge WS contributed to study design and reviewed the manuscript. Zhang YL and Zheng L prepared and characterized exosome-like nanoparticles. Tan WW, Zhang WB, Qiao D and Chen SH contributed to performed the experiments and analyzed data. All authors approved the final manuscript. Both Dai YC and Ge WS have played important and indispensable roles in the experimental design, data interpretation and manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors.
AI contribution statement: AI tools (specifically DeepSeek) were used solely for linguistic refinement and formatting assistance. No AI tool was involved in the generation of research data, interpretation of results, or formulation of conclusions. All AI-generated outputs were critically reviewed and revised by the authors.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81873253 and No. 82574996; the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation, No. 22ZR1458800; the Scientific Research Project Plan of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, No. 202240385; Hongkou District Health Committee, No. HKZK2020A01; Shaanxi Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Innovation Talent Plan Project, No. TZKN-CXRC-16; Project of Shaanxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. SZY-KJCYC-2025-JC-010; and Shaanxi Province Key Research and Development Plan Project-Social Development Field, No. 2025SF-YBXM-498.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: According to the National Guidelines for Experimental Animal Welfare, all animal experiment protocols were approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Approval No. PZSHUTCM2302270016).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: Data are available via MetaboLights with identifier MTBLS14499. 16S sequencing data (NCBI SRA): PRJNA1466611. The other data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Yan-Cheng Dai, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine-Integrated Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 230 Baoding Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai 200082, China.
Received: March 11, 2026
Revised: May 3, 2026
Accepted: June 23, 2026
Published online: October 7, 2026
Processing time: 174 Days and 23.5 Hours
Revised: May 3, 2026
Accepted: June 23, 2026
Published online: October 7, 2026
Processing time: 174 Days and 23.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The role of Portulaca oleracea L. (P. oleracea L.) in modulating endoplasmic reticulum stress, gut microbiota and metabolites remained unclear. To investigate this, we prepared exosome-like nanoparticles derived from P. oleracea L. and modeled colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium and microbiota-transplanted mouse. We found that P. oleracea L.-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (PELNs) intervention alleviated colitis through the modulation of the intestinal microbial community and metabolites. PELNs as a novel, food-derived, colon-targeted therapeutic, offering a promising approach for ulcerative colitis treatment.